Tuning in on WABC in New York we’ve got Sal. Let’s talk flooring. What can we do for you?
SAL: How you doing? Thanks for taking my call.
TOM: Our pleasure.
LESLIE: You’re so welcome.
SAL: I have a den with a – that is on grade. It’s concrete.
TOM: OK.
SAL: And I was wondering what’s good to prevent the moisture from coming up from the concrete and also to prevent it from being – creating a mold.
TOM: So do you want a finished floor that’ll work over concrete? Is that what you’re asking?
SAL: Right, right. I know that you can’t put the rug right on top of it because the moisture comes up from the concrete because it’s on grade.
TOM: That’s true. Concrete is fairly hydroscopic, but you have a lot of options. Two in particular – well, actually – well, three but I’m going to say first of all locking hardwood floor; engineered hardwood floor is a good option. Because it’s engineered it’s made of different laminations that are sort of cross planked (ph) constructed so it’s dimensionally stable. So you can put that down.
LESLIE: And there’s still a vapor sort of underlayment that you have to put below that floating hardwood, correct?
TOM: Exactly. And then second thing is laminate floor which would be a perfect solution here. And laminate floor could look like hardwood or could look like stone or it could look like vinyl or it could look like tile. It’s great stuff, it’s durable stuff. Or of course, you could use one of these premium vinyl materials.
LESLIE: Yeah, there’s actually a lot of different options. The vinyl materials are available in a sheet. They’re full size; they get cut to the room for all those dimensions. I think the sheet products really need to be done by a pro only because they’re so large and unwieldy and the measurements have to be exact. But that’s really a low expense option. And really, they all look good.
SAL: Very good. Thank you so much for your help.
TOM: You’re welcome, Salvador. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT.
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